Machine for use in treating hides, skins, leather, and other similar pieces of work



M. M. MERRITT 2,015,755

MACHINE FOR USE IN TREATING HIDES, SKINS, LEATHER AND OTHER SIMILAR PIECES OF WORK Filed NOV. 21, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 1, 1935.

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(D I X N N N l 0 N Q 0 N Oct. 1, 1935. MM, E n-r 2,015,755

MACHINE FOR USE IN TREATING HIDES, SKINS, LEATHER AND OTHER SIMILAR PIECES OF WORK Filed Nov. 21,. 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 911. l, 1935- M. MLMERRITT MACHINE ,FOR USE IN TREATING HIDES LEATHER AND OTHER SIMILAR PIECES Filed Nov. 21, 19:52

Patented Oct. 1, 1935 MACHINE ron USE IN resume HIDES, SKINS, LEATHER, AND ornea SIMILAR PIECES OF WORK Matthew M. Merritt, Middleton, Mass, assignor to The Tanning "Process Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts r Application November 21, 1932, Serial No. 643,576

9 Claim.

This invention relates to machines for use in treating hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work. While the machine illustrated in the drawings will be described with reference to its use in tanning operations upon hides and skins, it is to be understood that the invention and various important features thereof may have other applications and uses.

Drums or other rotary devices for use in the treatment of hides and skins have, as heretofore constructed, been provided with pins or shelves for lifting pieces of work undergoing treatment and dropping them. again, thus keeping them under constant agitation during rotation of the drum or other rotating device. Ordinarily these pins or shelves are arranged to project from, the interior surface of the drum along lines or planes extending radially from the axis of rotation of the drum. In such cases the pieces of work are not carried much above a plane passing horizontally through the axis of rotation of the drum, and, if the drum contains a good deal of. treating liquid, the pieces of work and the liquid are subjected to considerable agitation during which the pieces oi work are given a rolling motion as they slide is rather restricted in amount the rolling motion r of the hides and skins as they slip from one shelf to the shelf next subjacent thereto becomes more pronounced and not infrequently results in such a balling of the stock undergoing treatment as to be positively detrimental.- In other words, the pieces become wound rather tightly together in a ball-like formation, thus preventing uniform treatment of the individual pieces of work In fact, some of the hides and skins in the middle of such a mass may be tanned hardly at all while those at the surface of the mass may have undergone a complete tanning operation. In: those cases wherein it is desirable to treat the hides or skins with a comparatively small amount of treating liquor of higher barkometer strength than is usually employed when using large amounts of treating liquid, it is desirable tomake use of a well ventilated drum. and to provide means for lifting the liquid and letting it fall upon the stock undergoing treatment. So'far as-I am aware the means heretofore provided. for this purpose have been inadequate so that this type oi drum has gone into commercial use not at all or to a very limited extent.

It is an object of this invention to provide for proper agitation. of the treating liquid and of the stoclr. undergoing treatment in such a way as to obviate the tendency of the stock to form in balls, thus providing for proper and uniform treatment of all of the pieces of stock; It is a further object of the invention to provide a simple and highly effective means for distributing the treat- 10 ing liquid. over all surfaces of the pieces of stock particularly when the method of treatment involves the use of relatively restricted amounts of treating liquid in a drum.

To these ends and in accordance with an important feature of the invention a rotary work treating device such as a drum is provided upon its interior surface with shelves some or all of which are constructed and. arranged to carry pieces of work well up toward the high point in the rotation of the drum so that they are dropped, with little or no interference by other shelves on the rising side of the drum, into compartments containing liquid at the bottom of the drum where the pieces of work upon striking the liquid 5 become more or less spread out thus exposing their surfaces to the liquid before they are carried up on the rising side of r the drum to be again discharged into the low part of the drum. By this arrangement there is obviated the tendency of the stock to become wound up in balls, even in those cases wherein restricted amounts of treating liquor are supplied in drums provided with a series of shelves. In the illustrated construction, the shelves are arranged in such man nor that the work-lifting surface of each shelf is atan angleof about 50 to 55 degrees to the interior surface of. the drum, whereby rather deep compartments are provided for a considerable partof the upward movement of the rising side of the drum, so that the pieces of work are discharged only upon approaching the high point in the rotationoi the drum. It isto be understood, however, that the above-mentioned angles may be varied considerably, though the angle should preierably not be made substantially greater than 60 Conveniently and as shown, the shelves are provided with perforations to permit drainage of the work pieces as they are being carried up to ward a high. point in. the rotation of the drum.

This drainage is advantageous since it removes, from the pieces of work, treating liquid which has surrendered a large part of its treating substance to the said pieces of work, so that the latter may be subsequently bathed in or by stronger treating liquid the strength of which is maintained through suitable provision to that end.

Improved means is conveniently provided for lifting treating liquid from the bottom part of the drum and discharging it upon the stock in the drum compartments, the said means comprising, in the illustrated construction, a number of grooves in the cylindrical wall of the drum, spaced from each other in the direction of rotation of the drum and arranged to discharge the contained treating liquid into the compartment next subjacentthereto as each individual groove approaches the high point in the rotation of the drum. As. shown,,the cylindrical portion of the drum is made up of slats in contact with each other at their endsbut spaced from each other throughout a greater part of the intermediate portions of the slats, each slat being provided with a groove on that edge which is in advanceof the other edge in the direction of rotation of the drum. Hence each'groove discharges at the proper time intolthe space or slot between two adjacent slats. Through provision of a multiplicity of grooves, arranged to carry treating liquid upon the rising side of'the drum, the stock within the drum is treated to a heavy shower of treating liquidwhich falls continuously u'pon thestock on the shelves and to some extent upon the'stock inthe lower part of the drum, i These and'other important features of the invention and novel combinations of parts will now be described in detail in the specification and then pointed outmore particularly in the appended claims.

In the drawings, I

Fig. 1 is a plan view fromabove of a machine illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line IIII of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-J11 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a supply tank taken along the line IV-I V of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a view in end elevation-of the machine shown in Fig; 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VIVI of Fig.5;

V drum [0.

Fig. 7 is a sectional View taken along the line VII-VII of Fig. 6; and 7 Fig. 8 is a detail view 'of part of the pipe system provided in connection with the supply tank.

In the illustrated machine, which is designed particularly for tanning operations upon hides and skins, there is shown a drum) mounted for rotation within a vat 12, the vat being so constructed as to serve as a receptacle for solutions used in the treatment of hides and skins. Resting upon and secured to the vat I2 is a structure l3 adapted to serve as a retainer or splashboard member to' prevent escape of spray from the treating liquids during rotation of the a As shownthe drum 10 comprises circular end pieces I l imperforate throughout and a cylindrical surface made-up of slats l6 spaced with respect to each other throughout the greater part of the length of each slat so that the. treating liquid in the vat l2 may readily enter. the drum 54. The spaces between adjacent slats I6 are shown at H (Figs. 1 and 2) and constitute slots in the cylindrical portion of the drum. Means is conveniently provided for lifting the treating liquid in certain predetermined amounts from the vat or from the lower part of the drum and showering it upon the stock within the drum, the said means in the illustrated construction comprising a groove l8 located in one edge of each slat,

namely, that edge which is in advance of the other edge of the slat in the direction of rotation of the drum. It will be evident upon inspection of Fig. 2 that each groove 18 serves as a pocket to receive a portion of the treating liquid and discharge it during the rotation of the drum as each pocket approaches the high point in the rotation of the drum, each groove or pocket l8 being in communication with a slot ll provided, in the illustrated construction, by the space between'adjacent slats. Preferably and as shown, the slats iii are in contact with each other at their ends, the grooves It being coextensive with all 'of that portion of each slat between the describedends thereof, the purpose being to insurethat the liquid scooped up by the grooves or pockets i8 will be discharged through the slots ii on the inner side 'of the drum and not be allowed to escape at the ends of the slats. While each individual groove is of rather limited capacity it has been found that during rotation of the drum at the rate of fourteen revolutions per minute the stock is showered with the treating liquid carried up by the grooves or pockets i3.

In order to secure constant agitation of the treating liquid and such movement of the pieces of work undergoing treatment as will insure repeated exposure of all of the surfaces thereof to the treating liquid, the interior of the drum ii is provided with a series of shelves 20 secured at their ends to the end pieces M of the drum i6 and projecting from the interior cylindrical wall of the drum in spaced relation to each other to form compartments 2| adapted to receive the work pieces within the drum. During rotation of the drum the work pieces within a given compartment are carried up on the rising side of the drum and are finally discharged as they approach the high point in the rotation of the drum. In order to insure that the work pieces will be carried up in the manner described the shelves 20 are positioned at such an angle to the interior cylindrical surface of the drum as to form compartments wherein the stock is retained by the lower shelf of the compartment until it reaches discharge position at substantially the high point in the rotation of the drum. While the work lifting surface of each shelf in the illustrated construction makes an angle of from 50 to 55 degrees to the inner surface of the drum, i. e. to a plane tangent to the circle corresponding to the interior cylindrical surface of the drum, at the point where said surface of the shelf meets the said circle, it will be understood that this angle may be varied considerably, though preferably not made substantially greater than 60, so long as the skins drop freely to the bottom of the drum with little or no interference by shelves on the rising side of the drum. Preferably, and as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, each shelf 20, which is at an angle of from 50 to 55 degrees to the inner cylindrical surface of the drum, extends into the drum, in the plane of the shelf, from the inner cylindrical surface thereof a distance equal to about one-fourth of the length of the chord in which it lies, whereby, when said drum is operpiece.

ated at a suitable speed, each shelf is of such width and so positioned as .to carry hides or skins substantially up to the high point of the'rotation of the drum before discharging them intothe bottom of the drum, the width and position of the shelves being such. that they offer no obstruction to hides or skins falling from a shelf. at ornear said high point to the level of the liquid in the drum during the described rotation thereof. Work pieces, such ashides and skins, dropping from the shelf 20, near the high point in the rotation of the drum, intoa compartment 2i at the lower part of the drum and into the treating liquid in such compartment, spread out and are freely wetted by the treating liquid, before being carried up on the rising side of i the drum. Furthermore, there is no tendency for the work. pieces to roll into balls or bundlesas in, prior constructions wherein the work pieces are apt to roll from one radially extending shelf to another and thus become wound up or balled, in a compact mass. On the contrary, the pieces of stock at the end of treatment will be found free from each other with all of their surfaces thoroughly treated by the treating liquor provided for the purpose.

In the illustrated construction the drum I0 is provided with eight. shelves each of which is located at an angle of from 50 to 55 to the inner surface of the drum. It is obvious, however, that the number of shelves may bevaried without departing from the principle involved. In the present case with eight shelves the drum is rotated at the rate of 14 R. P. M. To lift and drop the hides or skins the same number of times per minute, when the number of shelves are reduced, the number of revolutions must be increased. While it has been found that the most satisfactory drum for the purposes intended is provided with eight shelves andfis rotated at a speed of 14 R. P. M., it is possible to reduce the shelves, preferably to not less than six. in number, in which case each shelf may be located at an angle substantially greater than 60 with respect to the inner surface of the drum. Preferably, however, such angle will not be substantially greater than 70.

In order that the pieces of work in each compartment may be drained more or less completely while they are moving upwardly with the rising side of the drum, each shelf 20 is provided with a plurality of drainage openings 22, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3, in spaced relation along that edge of the shelf which is in contact with the interior cylindrical wall of the drum. This locates the drainage openings 22 at the lowest point of the compartments moving upwardly on the rising side of the drum. In this connection it is pointed out that by thus pro- Viding for drainage from the compartments provision is made for the escape of treating liquid which has surrendered all, or a greater part of, its treating material to the hide or skin or other work In this way the surfaces of the work pieces are prepared to be bathed with stronger treating material from the pockets I8 while said work pieces are still on the shelves and when they drop from the compartments into the solution at the bottom of the drum. The drainage openings 22 also make it possible to give the drum a thorough cleaning by wash water, since if it were not for the openings 22, each shelf would be likely to retain some of the liquid for longer periods than is now the case.

Means is conveniently provided for preparing the. treating liquid as a preliminary to its introduction into the vat i2 and drum [0, the said means in the illustrated construction comprising a tank 24 located at a suitable height at the rear of the drum so that liquids may flow therefrom by gravity into the vat [2 upon proper manipu- ,5 lation of a valve'or valves. Preferably and as shown, the tank 24 is provided with heating coils such as steam pipes shown at 26 in Figs. 2 and 4. After the treating liquid has been properly prepared as to strength and as to temperature in 10..

thetank 24, it may be discharged into the vat l2 through a pipe 28 by proper manipulation of a valve indicated at 30 in Figs. 1 and 5. Conveniently also, the treating liquid remaining at the completion of the treatment of the work pieces may be discharged from the vat I2 through a pipe indicated at 32 (Fig 8) into a sewer pipe 33 (Figs. 5 and 8) upon proper manipulation of a valve indicated at 34 in said figure. For introducing water or other liquid into the tank 24 there is provided a supply pipe 36 emptying into the top of the tank 24. In order to conduct overflow from the tank 24 there is conveniently provided a pipe 38 opening into one wall of the tank 2'? near theup-per edge thereof, the said pipe 38 being connected at its other end to thewaste pipe 33. Preferably an overflow pipe 39 for the vat 52 connects with the pipe 38 as indicated in Figs. 1 and 5. 1

A door -'.'.8 is conveniently provided for an opening into the cylindrical surface of the drum ill, the said door comprising, in the illustrated construction, three of the slats l6 secured together by metal strips one of which is shown at 50 in Figs. 5 and6. Each metal strip 59, of which there are at least two, each closely adjacent to oneof the two ends of the door 48, is provided with an oifset tongue 52 which engages back of a bar 54 secured to one of the fixed slats l6. For securing thedoor 48 in place there is provided, at each end thereof, a clamping member in the form of a-hook 55 rigidly secured to or integral with a shaft 56 extending through the drum head [4 and mounted for rotation in a bearing 58 provided by a plate 60 rigidly secured to the end or 45. head M of the drum. Pinned to the external end of the shaft 56 is a lever 62 for manual operation of the door clamping means, the free end of the lever 62 being movable over a guide bar 64 secured to thedrum head M. For cooperation with the. movable hook 55 there is provided a stationary hookGB rigidly secured to or integral with the. metal strip 59 carried by and forming partof the door 48. It will be understood that one or both of the engaging surfaces of hooks 55 55 and 63 will be arranged at such an angle to the direction of movement'of the movable hook 56 as to form a wedging contact between the hook members 55 and 65 upon rotation of the shaft 56 by lever 52. a In the illustrated construc- 60 tion and as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 7, both of the engaging surfaces of hook members 55 and 66 are so inclined as to provide a wedging engagement of the hook members whereby the door 48 is forced tightly into closing position.

sprocket wheel 12 is a sprocket chain 14 indicated by a dot anddash line as passing also around a relatively large sprocket wheel 16 secured to one of the trunnions 18 upon which the drum I0 is mounted.

In operating the machine illustrated in the drawings, pieces of work are introduced through a doorway provided in the cylindrical surface of the drum and a suitable amount of treating liquid is discharged into the vat I2 from the conditioning tank 24. Upon setting the drum' ID in rotation the work pieces are subjected to treatment by being lifted from the treatingliquid, subjected to a draining operation, and then returned to the treating liquid which in the meantime has been strengthened by the addition of fresh treating material. During all the time that the pieces of work are being lifted from the body of the treating material in the bottom of the drum and being returnedthereto in the rotation of the drum, a constant shower of treating liquid is projected from above upon the mass of work pieces through the operation of the grooves or pockets [8. At the end of a suitable period of treatment the work pieces are alternately washed and drained while in the drum, and finally removed therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A rotary drum for treating hides and skins, having a plurality of shelves secured upon the interior cylindrical surface of the drum, each of the shelves being arranged in such manner that a work lifting surface of the shelf is at an angle of substantially 50 to 55 degrees to the tangent to the interior surface of the drum at the point of intersection therewith, and each shelf extending into the drum, in the plane of the shelf, from the inner cylindrical surface thereof a distance equal to about one-fourth of the length of the chord in which it lies, whereby when said drum isoperated at a suitable speed the hides or skins will be discharged from a shelf at or near the high point of the drum and will fall to the liquid levelthereof without striking other shelves lower in the drum. I

2. A cylindrical drum for treating hides and skins having its axis of rotation horizontally arranged and provided with not less than six shelves equally spaced upon the interior surface thereof in parallelism with said axis, each shelf having its work lifting surface at an acute angle of not more than about 70 to the tangent to the interior surface of the drum at the point of intersection therewith, and each shelf being of a suitable width and projecting only so far into the drum in the plane of the shelf that when said drum is operated at a suitable speed pieces of stock on each shelf in turn are lifted well up to the high point of the rotating drum before being discharged into the treating liquid in the lower part of the drum, and no obstruction is offered to the fall of the hides or skins from a shelf at or near said high point of the drum to the liquid level thereof during the said rotation of the drum.

3. A cylindrical drum for treating hides and skins having its axis of rotation horizontally arranged and provided with eight shelves equally spaced upon the interior cylindrical surface thereof in parallelism with said axis, each shelf having its work lifting surface at an angle not substantially greater than 60 to the tangent to the interior surface of the drum at the point of intersection therewith, and each shelf being of a suitable width and projecting only so far into the drum in the plane of the shell that when said drum, is operated at a suitable speed the pieces 'of stock are lifted well up to the high point of the rotating drum before being discharged into the treating liquid in the lower part of the drum,

and no obstruction is offered during such rotation of the drum to the fall of the hides or skins from each shelf in turn on the rising side of the drum to the liquid level thereof.

4. In a rotary drum, a plurality of members making up the'cylindrical surface of the drum, said members being in contact with each other at their ends and spaced from each other throughout substantially the greater part of the intermediate portions of each member and each member having a groove in that edge which is in advance of the other edge ofthe member in the direction of rotation of the drum to serve as a bucket for lifting treating material and discharging it upon the stock in the drum.

5. In a rotary drum, a plurality of shelves upon the interior cylindrical surface of the drum arranged'to carry the stock well up to the high point of the drum in the rotation thereof, said shelves being each provided with a plurality of drainage perforations along the line of contact of the shelf with the interior cylindrical surface of the drum, whereby the pieces of stock held by the shelves are drained while being carried away from the treating liquid in the lower part of the drum.

6. In a rotary drum for treating hides and skins, a plurality of shelves arranged upon the inner surface of the drum at an angle of about 50 to 55 to the tangent to the interior surface of the drum at the point of intersection therewith so as to carry work pieces engaged by the shelf up to approximately the high point in the rotation of the drum before discharging them, said shelves being each provided with a plurality of drainage perforations along the line of contact of each shelf with the interior surface of the drum.

'7. In a rotary drum for treating hides and skins, a plurality of shelves upon the inner surface of the drum forming compartments and arranged so that a work lifting surface of each shelf is at an angle of not substantially greater than 60 to the tangent to the interior surface of the drum at the point of intersection therewith, a plurality of pockets spaced from said shelves and located in the inner wall of the drum and opening upon the interior surface of the drum in position to discharge into said compartments, said pockets being arranged to face in the direction of travel of the drum to serve as buckets for carrying treating liquid upwardly on the rising side of the drum to discharge it upon the stock within the compartments as each pocket in turn approaches the high point in the relation of the drum.

8. In a rotary drum for treating hides and skins, a plurality of shelves upon the inner surface of the drum arranged so that a work lifting surface of each shelf is at an angle of not substantially greater than 60 to the tangent to the interior surface of the drum at the point of intersection therewith, each shelf having perforations to drain away treating liquid from the hides or skins being carried up by the shelves, a plurality of slots opening upon the interior surface of the drum, and grooves communicating with the slots and located in the wall of the drum, said grooves being arranged to face in the direction of travel of the drum to serve as buckets for carrying up treating liquidto approximately the high point in the rotation of the drum and discharging it upon hides or skins upon the shelves and in other parts of the drum.

9. In a rotary drum, a plurality of shelves upon the interior cylindrical surface of the drum arranged to carry the stock well up to the high point in the rotation of the drum, said shelves being each provided with a plurality of drainage perforations along the line of contact of the shelf with the interior cylindrical surface of the drum, said pockets located upon the inner wall of the drum to serve as buckets to carry treating liquid upwardly on the rising side of the drum and to discharge it upon hides or skins carried upwardly by the shelves whereby the pieces of stock held by the shelves are drained while being carried away from the treating liquid in the lower part of the drum and subsequently supplied with fresh treating liquid.

' MATTHEW M. MERRI'I'I.

CERTIFICATE OF GORR'ECTEON.

Patent No. 2,015,755. October 1, 1935.

MATTHEW M. MERRITT.

It is hereby certified time error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4, second column, line 54, claim 7, for "reiation" read rotation; and page 5, first column, line 5, claim 9, for "said" read and: and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of November, A. D. 1935.

Leslie Frazer (Seai) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

